http://0-www.jstor.org.patris.apu.edu/stable/3121650


This article talks about the inclusion and ideology of special needs students; the hope to have students in mainstream schools and the development and curriculum and pedagogy to meet the needs of all. The assessments for this population would depend on their acclimation to being mainstreamed into a school. It is one thing to see special needs students functioning and excelling in an atmosphere where they have found comfort, but it is another to see the accommodations made when they are mainstreamed. An assessment of both psychological and academic evaluations will be necessary for this to happen.

Describe what you learned about diagnostic and assessment strategies that fit your target population.
Although my population is small, students with disabilities from special schools being mainstreamed, there are multiple evaluations that the target population will have to accommodate. First the students will have to be assessed on how they function in a larger group setting. this is important because the student needs to be able to continually improve in academics in a changing environment. Secondly, students will have to be assessed more often than their fellow students. Teachers will be encouraged to "meet the needs of all" and unfortunately special needs students can be left behind if the needs are being met in too broad of teaching strategies. therefore, the mainstreamed special needs students will need to be more frequently assessed for understanding and also in pre-evaluations of new concepts.

Describe in what way/s assessment data would determine how you planned your curriculum and lessons for the specific special needs population?
One way i would plan my lessons based on assessment data would be to always use the deepest understanding for these students from the last section to intro my new section. For these students i would always scaffold learning as part of the intro to the unit and the preceding sections. This allows the needs of the students to be met for both mainstream and mainstreamed special needs students. I would also include a diagnostic test for each of the special needs students before the section planned to be taught. this way i can make sure that the areas that the students seem to have trouble with are addressed in each sections. Lastly, i would make sure to have constant conversation with the students so i can see where they are at both academically and socially. If i see certain areas that need work or that the students are accommodating to i can utilize those strengths for class interactions as well.